The Valparaiso women's swim team finished the Mid-Continent Conference Championships with a strong showing by earning a third place finish, just 18 points shy of a runner-up position.

Oakland won the meet with 1,017 points, followed by Western Illinois (622 pts.), the Crusaders (604 pts.), and IUPUI (562 pts.).

The Brown and Gold began the final day with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay as Lauren Bambach (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman H.S.), Ashley Seale (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville H.S.), Katie Urbas (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.), and Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) touched the wall in 1:54.54.

Bambach came back in the next event to earn an eighth place finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:16.85. Britt Nelson (Cortland, N.Y./Homer H.S.) followed with the fourth fastest time in Valpo history in the 500 freestyle (5:17.05), placing fourth in the event. Urbas finished fifth in the same event (5:23.58), while Maggie Kroemer (Brown Deer, Wis./Milwaukee Lutheran H.S.) finished seventh (5:28.14), and Daniella Trombatore was eighth (Redding, Calif./Shasta H.S.) (5:38.02) giving the Crusaders four swimmers in the top-eight.

Seale turned in a big performance in the 100 butterfly, finishing second with a time of 59.50 seconds, the second fastest mark in school history. Urbas finished fifth in the event with a time of 1:00.89.

Amanda Banholzer (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline H.S.) was Valpo's lone top-eight finisher in the 200 breaststroke, placing fifth with a mark of 2:36.46.

A trio of Crusaders finished in the top-eight in the 100 free. Daniella Trombatore (Redding, Calif./Shasta H.S.) led the group with an sixth place finish with a time of 56.10 seconds, while Bambach (56.29) and Laura Sadowski (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East H.S.) (56.48) were seventh and eighth respectively.

In the 200 individual medley, Schneider placed fourth with a 2:16.64, while Julie Fisher (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) finished eighth, touching the wall in 2:21.37.

The Crusaders concluded the meet with a fourth place finish in the 400 free relay as Seale, Trombatore, Nelson, and Schneider touched the wall in 3:42.50.

The Brown and Gold will return to action on January 9 when they host Hope in a 5 p.m. meet at the Athletics-Recreation Center.